Baal, or Báal, is a god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites. He was considered a fertility deity and the most important god in the Canaanite pantheon. So he is considered as the Canaanite equivalent of Zeus, of the Greek pantheon. In fact, some theorize that it was Baal, who evolved to be Zeus of the Greek pantheon. So in Canaanite mythology, Baal is considered the ruler of heavens, as well as a god of the sun, rain, thunder, fertility, and agriculture. But mostly, Baal is worshiped as the god of fertility and hence was responsible for bringing rain and fertility to the land to flourish the crops. Specifically, Canaanites related Baal with Rain and Dew, and were given the title the lord of Rain and Dew. This is because rain-and dew are the two forms of moisture that were crucial to fertile the soil in Canaan.
Baal is associated with the bull; this is because in Canaanite mythology, a bull represents strength and fertility. In artistic depictions and archaeological findings, Baal is often portrayed as a god with a head of a bull and the body of a human. There are also instances where the god is portrayed as a complete bull or ram. Baal resides on Mount Zaphon, which is located in the north of Ugarit, and is usually depicted holding a thunderbolt. He is believed to be the son of the Canaanite supreme god El and his consort Athirat who is the mother goddess. Some texts mention Asherah, the goddess of the sea as the consort of El and mother of Baal. Other accounts claim him to be the son of Dagan and Shalash and that El is an ancestor of Baal.
The origin of the name Baal, is believed to be from the word Báal, used in Northwest Semitic languages which has the meaning owner, lord, a master, or husband. Some argue that the term Baal, is used as a generic term, since many high gods are identified with this term. Such gods are,
- Ba'al Hadad - The god of storms, thunder, lightning, and air.
- Ba'al Hermon - The local deity of Mount Hermon.
- Baal Hammon - The god of vegetative fertility and renewer of all energies.
- Baalshamin / Baal Shamem / Baal Shamaim - The supreme sky god.
- Baal-zephon / Baalzephon - An alternate form of Baal Hadad, the lord of Mount Zaphon.
Others argue that these different gods represent different aspects of the same deity.
Given the prominence of the god, and that the humans most immediately depend on him, Baal was also titled as the Prince of the earth, Lord of the Earth, Rider of the Clouds, and Almighty. The most prominent source which provides information about this fertility god is the Ras Shamra tablets found in northern Syria. One of these tablets tells the mythological story of the Baal cycle.
In this text, Baal is recognized as the son of Dagan, and Yam, the god of the violent sea as the son of El. The story begins by introducing Baal and Yam as rivals. Yam challenged Baal in a fight, to decide the successor of the high throne, and Baal accepted the challenge. With the favor of his father El, Yam manages to defeat Baal in the first battle. So Yam became the king of gods after his father. Under El’s command, the divine craftsman Kothar-wa-Khasis created a magnificent castle for the new king.
But Yam was a harsh ruler. He made other gods do extreme hard labor. So the other deities cried out to Asherah, the goddess of the sea for help. Yam refused Asherah’s request to be kind to his subjects. So she offered herself as a sacrifice, if Yam will ease his rule over other gods, and to this Yam agreed. The news of this agreement reached Baal, and he opposed it, and challenged the king of gods to another battle. With the help of magical weapons given to him by Kothar-wa-Khasis, Baal managed to defeat Yam. Baal then proclaimed his victory and was crowned as the king of gods.
But El did not gift Baal a new castle, like he did when Yam was crowned. Anat, who is Baal’s consort, realized her husband was unhappy because of this. So she threatened El to make his grey hair run with blood, if he does not allow Baal to have a palace. But this attempt does not succeed. So both Baal and Anat decided to visit Asherah, the consort of El, with extravagant gifts and jewelry, to get her to persuade El to build him a palace. Because of Asherah’s persuasion, El allowed Kothar-wa-Khasis to build a palace for Baal.
Baal insisted that his palace to be built without windows, since he suspected an attack from the defeated Yam. But later after conquering other lands and making every god and mortal follow his reign, Baal decided to create windows in his palace. Instead of receiving Kothar-wa-Khasis’s assistance, Baal used his thunderbolt to create holes on the palace walls, which were then created to windows.
Baal then invited all the gods to his palace for a feast. The invitation reached the god of the underworld Mot as well. Mot found the invitation for a feast of bread-and-butter offensive, since he as the god of the dead, hungers for human flesh and blood. So Mot replied to the invitation with a threat, to destroy Baal’s heavenly kingdom. Frighten by his threat, since Mot himself is a powerful god, Baal hid at the entrance of the underworld, on the day returned to the surface to claim his vengeance.
Since Baal is the fertility god, with his disappearance the land became barren. Assuming Baal is dead, Mot took over the heavens and started to destroy the heaven and the human land. Anat pleaded with Mot to resurrect Baal from the dead, since only he as the god of the dead has the power to do so. Mot refused her request which angered Anat. So she attacked him and sliced him to pieces and then threw his remains to the birds. But Mot cannot be killed, since he rules over death itself, and only can be weakened.
In the meantime, El mourned for the loss of Baal and worried over the dying land. After some days El dreamed of Baal being alive, and a few days later, Baal returned to the heavens as a strong warrior. This time El sided with Baal, and banished Mot to the underworld. This is believed to be the cause of the change of seasons. The dry summers of the area were explained as Baal's time in the underworld and his return in autumn was said to cause the storms which revived the land.
The dispute between Mot and Baal did not stop with Baal banishing Mot to the underworld. It is believed that every 7 years the two gods fight on Mount Zephon. Since both the gods are equally powerful, they have an equal chance of winning the fight. The fertility of the land for the next 7 years is determined by the victor. If Baal wins the fight, the land will flourish, and the harvest would be abundant. If Mot wins the fight, the land will be infertile, and the farmers would have a hard time cultivating.
One of the primary religions that denied the existence of Baal is Judaism. The Hebrew bible often portrayed Baal, as the primary enemy of the Israelite God Yahweh, claiming Baal as a false god. It could be seen that Baal appears about 90 times in the Hebrew bible, most prominently in the First Book of Kings. This suggests the widespread popularity of the god and that Israelites were quick to embrace and worship Baal disregarding Yahweh. Yahweh’s prophets would even contest with Baal’s priests, to prove Yahweh is more powerful and true, than Baal.
As for the earlier accounts, the word Baal was also used by Israelites to address their god, since the term has the meaning My lord. But with the development of the two religions and the conflict, the name Baal was given up by the Israelites to refer to their god, and was used as a term to describe a thing of shame. The Bible also extensively talks about how god punishes those who worship other gods, especially Baal.
I Kings 18, records an account of a contest between the prophet Elijah and Baal’s priests. In it, the Bible explains that Elijah and Baal’s priests offered a sacrifice to their god, and asked to light their alters with fire to show their presence. Baal’s priests were unable to perform this task, but Yahweh’s alter lit up with fire, burning the alter to ashes.
Later, Baal was associated with the archdemon Beelzebub. Beelzebub is identified by the writers of the New Testament as the king of all demons. The continuous dispute the bible highlights between Yahweh and Baal, suggests that Baal was a significantly prominent and popular deity. Hence the biblical prophets dedicated a significant effort to stopping Israelites from being swayed by this Canaanite god.
Especially because of the influence of Israelites and their beliefs, many of the Canaanite deities, including Baal, took a darker aspect, and the stories were forgotten over time. So there is a growing debate to figure out many attributes related to the Canaanite fertility god.
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